Too fat to fly? 500-pound man denied flight

CBS

Kevin Chenais’ mother, Christina, is irate that she and her son have been denied a return flight.

A young French man who flew to the U.S. to receive treatment for a hormone disorder is grounded after the airline that flew him to the States deemed him too fat to fly.

Kevin Chenais, 22, weighs in at about 500 pounds and was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for a year and a half. But when he and his family tried to fly back to France, British Airways deemed that it was unsafe for Chenais to fly.

A representative told the Daily News via email that the airline “worked tirelessly to try and find a solution for the family and exhausted all options,” saying there was no aircraft in their fleet that could accommodate his girth.

CBS

The 22-year-old weighs about 500 pounds, too large for a standard airplane, one airline claims.

But the explanation doesn’t sit well with his mother, Christina Chenais, who said the airline left the family stranded in Chicago.

“If they could bring him here with that problem in economy, there was a way to take him back by economy — but just get him back home for his medical treatments to continue,” the irate mother told CBS Chicago.

British Airways said it was in touch with the family and had exhausted all other options.

CBS

After getting stranded in Chicago, the young man and his mother have decided to take a train to New York and a ship to England.

Left without the option to fly, CBS Chicago reports that the family will now take a train to New York and will then board the Queen Mary II, bound for England — all additional costs the family said they can’t afford.